Balloons and lanterns will glow outside the stadium on Thursday night for those with cancer.
The lights will be part of the annual Light the Night Walk on campus, co-hosted by UF’s chapters of Pi Delta Psi Fraternity and Premedical Chapter of the American Medical Student Association, to raise money for blood cancer research.
This is the first year the two organizations have partnered to host the walk held on behalf of the Northern and Central Florida Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The theme for the event is "Hope is Alive."
Events will be held throughout the week in an effort to gather more funds and to better inform the public, Gabe Abreu, a co-director, said. They hope to raise $42,500. The UF mechanical engineering junior and Pi Delta Psi member said he walks for his mother, who passed away from breast cancer in September.
"It will be my own way to fight against cancer," he said.
The walk is free and open to the public, Abreu said.
Alexandra Galbo, a co-director for the event, will walk for her mother, a Non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivor. The UF psychology senior said she is concerned with educating people on why the event is important.
"Why not help to fight cancer?" Galbo, 21, said. "It really hits home to spread the word."
